My hope is to honor God with every brushstroke… to bring light to the world by expressing my Joy in The Light OF the World.

HAPPY

I’ve been painting again. Walls, not pictures this time. It’s long overdue, and I enjoy doing it. While I paint, I listen to music for a while, then I switch to podcasts. The other day I listened to a podcast of the TED Radio Hour from NPR on happiness. Very interesting show about what makes some people have a happier disposition than others… The psychology behind happiness, the Harvard brains opinions regarding happy people, and more. You can hear the entire broadcast, or specific pieces of it, here.

On the broadcast, David Steindl-Rast talked about what it takes to be grateful. He argues that happiness follows gratitude, rather than being grateful because we’re happy. I agree. As a Christian, I know that I must give thanks in all things and at all times… Gratitude. If I am thankful for what I have, for the goodness of God in my life, then why would I NOT be happy? On the other hand, if I am only grateful when I’m happy, well… I imagine it to be like a child saying, “God, I’m not gonna be thankful and grateful unless you make me happy. If I’m not happy, then I’m not gonna thank you for anything.”

Jeremy Camp woke me up this morning singing these words from his song, My God. They made my day start with an attitude of gratitude to God this morning.

The Great Creator
Beautiful Savior
I’ve been redeemed
There is life now from Your victory
You are my God

One of the best ways for me to take my mind OFF myself and get my “grateful” on is to acknowledge God for who he is and what he’s done for me. It sure starts my day off right this morning.